Android 15doesn’t seem like a release that will fundamentally change the way Android works and looks like Android 12 and 5 before it. In one way, Android 15 is still the beginning of a new era, though. Now that Google has announced the first Android 15 developer preview, DP1, we know which of its Pixels will be officially compatible with. For the first time since the launch of the Pixel 6, Google’s lineup is all in on thecustom Tensor chip, leaving behind the Pixel Snapdragon era.
As Google revealed during its Android 15 DP1 announcement, the oldest phones in its lineup to join the preview program are the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. The last Snapdragon Pixel before them, the Pixel 5a, will still receive security updates until August 2024, but it looks like it won’t receive any further full software updates beyond that. It’s not surprising since it’s already received three full OS upgrades, which is usually the maximum Google provides to that generation of Pixels.
Google Tensor G3: The complete guide to the Pixel 8’s processor
Google’s custom silicon goes big on AI features
The reason why the end of the Pixel Snapdragon era leaves a bittersweet taste is because the Tensor has so far not been able to live up to its high expectations. When Google first switched to its Tensor chips, which are based on customized Samsung Exynos processors, the company promised that everything would get better.
Three years in, the Tensor processors still aren’t up to snuff
Performance problems and false AI promises galore
On some fronts, it did deliver. Rather than only three years of software support, the company switched to a new system that gives the Pixels three Android OS upgrades and five years of security patches, making the hardware last significantly longer without compromising software security. The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro even upped this policy to seven years of security patchesandfull software updates, meaning that they should get Android 21 in 2030. This move inspired many other Android manufacturers to step up their game with similar policies.
But Google also promised that it would use Tensor to provide local AI features that couldn’t be added with any other hardware. It was also supposed to enable ambient computing experiences you can’t find on other devices. It’s true that many such features first launch on Pixel phones, but over the past three and a half years, we’ve seen many of the supposedly Tensor-powered features make their way to other devices (like Magic Eraser) or turn out to actually work in the cloud (like Magic Editor and Video Boost on the Pixel 8 Pro). Even the Pixels’ excellent AI phone call feature Hold for Me is making its way to other phones,albeit in a slightly different flavor.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra sure has a lot of AI features without relying on the Tensor’s ✨magic✨
At the same time, the Tensor processors have proven to be unreliable in, well, being processors. Getting a Pixel 6 with a good modem was like taking part in a lottery, and while things have gotten better with the Tensor G2 in the Pixel 7 and the Tensor G3 in the Pixel 8 series, Tensor chips still run hotter and have less performance overhead than competing phones with Snapdragon or MediaTek processors. Our Phones Editor Will Sattelberg goes as far as saying that the inconsistencies make Pixel phonesimpossible to recommend in their current state.
Snapdragon Pixel phones felt more consistent
Google still has occasional problems when updating its Tensor devices
Google also seems to have had consistent problems with updating its Tensor chips. When the Pixel 6 series just launched, it routinely received software updates much later than its Snapdragon predecessors, with some of them ending up buggy. These issues still crop up to this day, with Google just recently being forced toretract its January Play System update.
The end of an era: The Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a (5G), and Pixel 5 next to each other
Three years into the switch to the Tensor lineup, all this makes the final end of Snapdragon Pixel phones feel much harder than it should be. It’s true that even back then, Pixel phones weren’t exactly powerhouses, neither when it comes to battery life nor raw performance — Google has always valued software more than hardware. And even back then, Google was struggling with consistency problems across individual units. But even though Google didn’t have control over the processors as much as it has now, software updates arrived more consistently. Software updates broke stuff less consistently. It feels like everything worked better together when itdidn’tall come from the same manufacturer.
